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Tomahawk
Tomahawk's sound has shifted dramatically with their latest album, 'Anonymous', a change that's got all the fans talking, some unhappily. The trademark Tomahawk quirkiness and Mike Patton's unmistakable vocal stylings remain, but 'Anonymous' is otherwise a rather unique beast. Taking their name to heart, the trio (persisting minus bass player Kevin Rutmanis, who left seeking to remedy his own personal problems) has produced an album entirely inspired by the ancient music of Native America, revamping actual traditional songs with electronic beats and guitars.
The idea was guitarist Duane Denison's, who had been intending something of the sort for years, albeit under different guises and on a somewhat smaller scale. Though he'd had the idea as far back as 2001, he claims, "There wasn't any intention to ever play that kind of stuff when we [Tomahawk] started. I thought I might just kind of do it on my own, separate. But it never really worked out... I made some demos and played them for people at Americana labels here in Nashville and they just kind of laughed at it and threw me out of their offices. So I just thought 'the hell with them'. I played [the demos] for Mike and John [Stanier, drums] and they thought it was great."
The other members found the idea so great, in fact, that it snowballed far beyond Denison's original intention: a few of the songs being included as interludes in an otherwise more straightforward Tomahawk album. Instead, we're now faced with something much bolder, on a grander and more impressive scale.
Naturally, Denison was interested in, perhaps a little wary of, the reaction he'd get from the Native Americans themselves. "I expected more than I've actually gotten," he begins. "I did an interview the other day with a Canadian Native magazine 'Spirit'... But the guy who interviewed me was really hip and he was wowed. He was very familiar with the underground rock scene and all that and he liked the album. So I was sort of relieved, actually." But on the other hand, he believes strongly in his right to meddle with the indigenous songs. "This stuff is public domain material," he reminds me, "and it's been sitting there for a hundred years, dormant." I almost feel a little chastised as he (in good humour) continues to stress the point. "We weren't copying anyone's recordings; we just found this transcription and made our own arrangements of it. We basically rewrote it and rearranged everything. I feel like anyone can do it really. It doesn't belong to anyone at that point... I don't think you have to be of a certain ethnicity to play a certain kind of music."
Denison does anticipate some criticism, however, expecting that "some people will argue over the authenticity. But," he protests, "we weren't trying to be authentic. We're using electric guitars and drums and we couldn't be authentic if we wanted to." This should be plainly obvious to anyone hearing the album, in which the modern and traditional are firmly and seamlessly interwoven, even when it comes to the lyrics. "Some of the transcriptions had the original lyrics and words in the native language. So some of what you hear is that. Some of it also came with translations, so there's some of that, too. And some of it is made up. So you know, once again, since we're allowed a certain amount of artistic license on these things, the line is kind of blurred between where one ends and one takes over."
This approach becomes very apparent when listening to Patton's obscure chanting in the trippy, drum-heavy Red Fox, or the more aggressive, energetic musical passages of Sun Dance, all of which still conform to the album's theme and concept. Somehow. Still, Denison tells the story of a fan he met recently, who, clearly missing the point, said, "they had the album and they liked everything 'except all the gibberish'." I guess you can't win them all.
Mike Cross
'Anonymous' is out now on Ipecac through Shock.
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